Fall festival benefits local rescue fund

Ronald Hester was browsing in an antique store in Wilton Manors last March, and started up a conversation with a woman artist. He told her he'd had a coffee shop in Baltimore and it was successful. "Poetry readings, art exhibits, bingo nights. Plus good coffee and tea, of course.

"I said I was looking for a place to open a coffee shop here," he recalled. "As I was leaving, a guy called out, 'I've got the ideal location for you!'

"That was here, in Eucalyptus Gardens."

The Gardens are in a curious little setback area off Northeast 26th Street where Northeast 13th Avenue dead ends at a three-acre plot of ground next to a defunct lumber company. A landscaping business occupied the space until three years ago. Hester's Bohemian Coffee and Teas is at the eastern end of a low white building that the new owner, developer Evan Anthony, is restoring.

The shop was the site for the recent Bohemian Fall Festival, with proceeds going to the Animal Rescue Fund. About a hundred people moved through the spread-out property, which has the weathered, small-scale look of midcentury Florida.

A rainbow eucalyptus tree, named for the mix of pastel colors on its trunk, stands guard.

A tiny porch fronts Hester's shop, outfitted with a sofa and a magazine stand piled with copies of Rolling Stone magazine. Ceiling fans spin slowly. Bob Dylan songs play over the sound system.

"We're going back to the early 60s," Hester said. "When I was a student at San Francisco State. A time of Dylan and Joan Baez. A beautiful time, when people got together and tried to work things out."

Hester is a teacher at Marymount University in Fort Lauderdale. His avocation is his coffee shop, which is open now 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. seven days a week. His coffee supplier is Royal Cup Coffee. The bakery goods – donuts to croissants – come from "the local bakeries. Or individuals make them for me.

"And I have competition," he said. "There's a Starbucks down the street, and a Dunkin Donuts, and Stork's around the corner. But nobody's doing what I'm doing – bringing everything together in a bohemian environment with a beautiful courtyard."

The shop is at the forefront of an enterprise "that sells concepts," Hester said. Or is about to. The space next door, with butcher paper still covering door and windows, is going to be a bakery and to the west of that a vegan restaurant is planned. Beyond that, a wine restaurant will be getting under way. Further west is the Ginger Root Fresh Market, an organic fruit and vegetable stand now open for business. A small building nearby offers yoga classes.

"This is a quiet, serene place," said visitor Maria McBritt, who works at a Bank of America branch. "You can come in with your laptop or your iPad and enjoy the outdoors. You can even bring your dog."

Bohemian Coffe and Teas is at 2430 NE 13th Avenue. Phone number is 954-557-7858